Thursday Morning Walk

This morning was absolutely beautiful. The calm before the storm I suppose, as Abigail is on her way and it’s not exactly clear how close she’ll come to us here.
I decided to make the most of it, and walked Maggie down to the bank to put some credit on my mobile phone and also to give her a walk along the lock for a change.
Being relatively early (just gone 8am), the town was beginning to wake up, traffic getting busier and the occasional shop was already open.
The ducks along the river are noisier than those here on the marina, one of which was hollering rather than quacking. It made me wonder if there could be such a thing as a duck choir, after all, they all have different pitches of quack, and if properly trained, I’m sure could produce quite significant harmonies and melodies.
The smell of log burners hung in the air as there are several moorings along the river by the lock, some private and some council owned. There are no showers or elsan (chemical toilet disposal)  points, but there is a water tap on the opposite side close to the lock entrance, and we believe that the marina allows use of its facilities for a small fee.

I was hungry, so thought I’d treat myself to a bacon roll and coffee. Mentioning the word Breakfast, Maggie was all ears and wagginess, and knew exactly where to go. She waited patiently for me in the doorway, totally ignoring everyone passing, even two couples with dogs, as if knowing that if she behaved, she would get some. Of course she did, almost half my roll and a little bit of coffee, much to the amusement of those who aren’t familiar with seeing us sitting on the bench outside the bakers.

We made our way home, but because it was so nice, I walked her round the Avenue as well.
What a difference houses make!
It’s bin collection today, and the stench of the refuse bins was almost overpowering. It was a musty decomposing compost smell, not at all pleasant on the nostrils (or stomach) compared to the musky woody aroma of the boat heaters.

In Lincolnshire, they introduced a £25 charge for green bin collection last year. We didn’t join in the scheme, took the relevant bin down to the tip to empty it and left it in the garage for our buyers.
Apparently, last year a similar charge was introduced here too. This year it has doubled to £50.
Makes us kind of glad we live on a boat now (no garden)!

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